Erling Haaland vs. Gabriel rivalry: Arsenal, Man City resume heated feud in World Cup Round of 16
Erling Haaland vs. Gabriel rivalry: Arsenal, Man City resume heated feud in World Cup Round of 16 originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup has been oozing with delicious storylines ever since the tournament began across North America in mid-June.
One of the most mouth-watering matchups of the tournament so far sees blue-blood nation Brazil match up against new power Norway in the Round of 16, as the two nations clash at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The game has plenty of sub-plots, but one of the most intriguing clashes will be the first international meeting between Premier League rivals Gabriel and Erling Haaland.
Haaland has risen to stardom at Manchester City, scoring goals in bunches to help lead the club to an unprecedented level of silverware and global success. Meanwhile, Gabriel has been a star performer in defense for Arsenal, who just won their first Premier League title since 2004 last season and reached the Champions League final in the process.
Now, they will do battle at the World Cup with a spot in the last eight on the line. The Sporting News details the rivalry brewing between these players and highlights the most contentious and memorable moments between the two so far.
MORE:Follow Brazil vs. Norway World Cup match LIVE
Erling Haaland vs. Gabriel rivalry
There has been a tense feud between Arsenal defender Gabriel and Man City striker Haaland throughout the last few years of Premier League football.
They have met eight times in Premier League play, on the pitch together for 706 total minutes as of the end of the 205/26 English league campaign.
They have contested 26 individual duels, with Haaland winning 16. In fact, it’s the most duel defeats that Gabriel has suffered to any one individual opposing player in his Premier League career.
The first time Gabriel and Haaland squared off came in February of 2023. Haaland had arrived at Man City from Borussia Dortmund the previous summer.
City won 3-1 in a game where Haaland scored, unsurprisingly, since he won the Golden Boot that season in runaway fashion. The two clubs were sitting first and second in the table at the time, and Gabriel had his hands full with Haaland, almost conceding a penalty had the offside flag not gone up.
Haaland scored again in a 4-1 City win over Arsenal later than year, en route to securing the domestic title.
The following October, Haaland was blanked along with the rest of his team as Arsenal won 1-0, and City was held off the scoresheet again in the reverse fixture at the Etihad in a 0-0 draw. Yet that would not stop City from winning the title, as they secured another Premier League crown by the end of the campaign.
The 2024/25 season brought one of their most iconic flashpoints, as their September meeting saw John Stones snatch a last-second equalizer in the 98th minute, after which Haaland pelted Gabriel in the head with the ball in celebration.
Both players minimized the incident as best they could post-match, but it clearly stuck in the Arsenal defender’s mind. The Gunners would secure a dominant 5-1 win at the Emirates in the reverse fixture, and Gabriel found the back of the net, scoring before unleashing a primal scream right in the face of his adversary. After the match, he confirmed it was an intentional bit of revenge.
“The moment we scored, he was right next to me, so I went straight to shouting in his ear,” Gabriel said after the game, going on to say he remembered the previous incident.
In their most recent game, an April battle between Premier League title hopefuls that ended in a 2-1 Man City victory, with a goal from Haaland, referee Anthony Taylor had to chat with both of them, retorting to Haaland’s complaints of shirt-pulling with “you’re both at it.”
That fell on deaf ears, as the two continued their physical tussle all game. At one point, Gabriel tore Haaland’s kit, before Haaland would score the game-winning goal. As the match came to an end, the two came forehead-to-forehead, as Gabriel extended his into Haaland’s face. In their post-match media availability, Haaland admitted he could have gone down to coax the referee to give Gabriel a red card, but he chose not to.
Erling Haaland vs. Gabriel in World Cup match
The two are set to resume their rivalry on the international stage as Norway meets Brazil at MetLife Stadium for their Round of 16 match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
They have never squared off on the international level, as Norway and Brazil have not met since their group-stage meeting at the 1998 World Cup where Norway won 2-1.
